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3. Interesting blog re dam removal in PA

Hope it is kosher to plug a blog in this forum. Some of you might find this interesting. Scott is a professional geo-engineer, flyfisherman, lover of water (and beer.) I love his writing and am proud to have grown up with him!

http://stream-hugger.blogspot.com/2015/04/grass-roots-science-denial-blocks-dam.html

TKB, Yeah, I went on stream hugger. I read the dam remove, hey it is what it is. Goes on all over. It was very interesting read, & a disturbing read to me. In my life as a sportsman,I have come to a cross roads of thinking. On that I have come to grips with being happy with the things that get done. Then to be sad, mad, or more over things that don't get done. I have fought good fights, and been slammed, by ones that didn't have a clue but there own will, or Oh!,money, cost, Ah we cannot ,Ah,Ah,But ,really money.
In the end, doing things on our own. Own labor, free donated materials, donated machines, donated labor, and story goes, End result stream work got done. On that issue,which was log jam,& rock bank shore up.
What man can do, when they put there heads together, chainsaws in hands,hip boots on there feet & just get it down. I have found out streams don't get fixed in a Town Hall meeting. Plus it does feel good to catch one on the stream fishing liking what others labored for. Cause I get to say , Oh like this, that's the work you wouldn't back on. No worry buddy, club got it done.
Oh, and the the trout liked it 2. Why? Cause in taking it out we discovered,leaving some of it would be good for the trout. They are in there still, creek flows, banks hanging in, all good.

Interesting story. Another don't bother me with the facts kind of thing.

Yeah, I guess, the blog is on a dam remove.
The dam could have been removed at no cost.
But the powers that be voted to keep dam in place, even though it is really on it's way out. As falling apart & more.
There's a perfect example of clue-less......
If that's what ya mean? On don't bother me with the fact's kind of thing.

It seems that most people are primarily emotional; rational...somewhere further down the line. A "responsive" democracy follows in kind.

I try to be thankful for what I have. I have enough water, could never really fish it all.
If I & some others can make a small part of it better, hey it's worth it. Bumps, oh you talk stream, there be bumps,& yelling, & so on. I have walked away many a day, and stood fast other days. But that happens when you put a bunch together that really don't play well with others. Alot of those days long past now Paul. But it was all worth it. There 2 hard ta explain really how we got alot of things done. Hard-headed-ness didn't hurt much....

I only wish this type of story was more rare.

It reminds me of many conservation debates in the Ozarks. The defense against almost any form of regulation or protection is that it squashes some inviolate tradition...be that the banning of running deer with dogs in the past, or the use of motorized watercraft/atvs in places where they pretty clearly have no business being. It's an easy line that is applicable to almost any form of exploitation.

We need to realize that "tradition" just means something has been happening for a long time. It doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing, or that removing it from our lives wouldn't make things better. If you are going to oppose something like a dam removal, your reasoning has to better than "it's been there my whole life, and it feels like a part of the community." That's not a reason, that's an emotional attachment.

Yes. I agree, emotional attachment, hard thing.I had strong emotional attachment to my 2 horse's, but there came the time I had to put them down. Sometimes you gotta do the best thing, even if it feels as the worst thing. There dam is in there town park. I'm sure it is pretty, lawns, sounds of the water, etc,etc. But it served it use long ago, for a town mill long since past & gone. When it blows someday & hurts others down stream, I wonder what they shall say then? Not like they didn't know this could happen, the proof in in the pudding. People in the know warned, & explained & more. Ta talk to dead ears. Time will tell in the end, always does....

Given a choice, most people will choose to bury their heads in the sand until it's far too late. Folks always want to know that serious consequences are "imminent" before acting, when that's usually impossible to prove.

I've learned firsthand that it's not much fun trying to convince people that something needs to be done/preserved/ regulated/etc when their default state is wanting to deny that for as long as possible (and a little longer.) Still has to be done, but it can feel like you are banging your head against a wall endlessly, because most of the time that's exactly what you're doing.

Yes, I do try to stay a way from,( banging your head against a wall endlessly anymore)...
It does my health & welware no good.
If I am now asked on some matters, I'll comment & help were can, if needed.
But for leading the mob at times it seems, those days are over for this guy. Maybe I have just come to a reserve that some want everything, but really do nothing. I have time for myself, ta take in the sounds of life,& the nature so few explore this days.
I think by reading your words, you know what I am writing on. For ya sound like ya been there done that. I heard, a sense of you got beat on yourself, for one or two good fights on a stream or ?????....

Excellent, Paul. Thanks for sharing this.

Thanks Paul, looked last night interesting man. I shall read more, there is alot written. I enjoyed,
Biologist's Book Pulls No Punches.... & there was loads more. Nice....